Review: Tradition

Tradition by Daniel Khalastchi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In "Tradition," Daniel Khalastchi does his best to fulfill the aesthetic of shock--that is, that the quality of the poetry depends on how shocked you can make the reader. Juxtaposing disconnected actions and images suggests that the world does not make sense, but also that, perhaps, the poet is trying too hard.

... An hour passed before
you asked if I was bleeding, and
when I couldn't answer

you struck me again. Do you
think, you said later, our air
depleting while we shared

the last throat lozenge, that male
high school girls' basketball
coaches feel their athletes are

the reason they have such distance
in their marriages? I don't
know, I said. I do, you

said, and you began to
dig us a tunnel with your
teeth...

The collection is filled with death and copulation, suggesting I suppose, our lives. But it all seems overheated, strained. I respect the attempt at the 21st Century version of the Surreal. But it does not work for me here.

The exception is the long "Poem for My Father," which expresses deeper emotions as it suggest a biography we want to know more about. Here the juxtapositions seem to fit a real life and individuality. Here we experience poetry with some power. The rest of the collection pales in comparison.




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Review: Hansel & Gretel Get the Word on the Street

Hansel & Gretel Get the Word on the Street by Al Ortolani
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bleeding with despair, dripping with contempt for himself, his students, his fellow teachers, and whimsically rich with snark, the protagonist of these poems is an unhappy man.

There are a few gems herein, including "Game Prayer," "Tough Cookies," and Daddy's Car."

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Thank you Editor Glenn Lyvers of Poetry Quarterly for accepting 2 more of my poems for publication in the next issue.

Thank you Editor Glenn Lyvers of Poetry Quarterly for accepting 2 more of my poems for publication in the next issue.

Toni Morrison - A voice that insists on facing the truth and believing that we can be true to our betters selves

"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. The may be the measure of our lives." - Toni Morrison

By that measure, her life will always be measured large.

Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rereading this classic nearly 50 years after the first time I experienced it, I was impressedby two things:

First, this is a wonderful book, a powerful book on love, friendship, sexuality and gender, politics and betrayal, and light and darkness.

Second, when I first read it, I found it to be in some ways revolutionary in dealing with gender and sex roles, Time has passed. The world and I have changed. Now I see the masculine-oriented viewpoint of LeGuin, the condescension towards the female in many places that can't be explained entirely by the point-of-view of the main character. LeGuin herself said that the criticism she received over the years was justified, that while she was a child of her times, that was no excuse, and that she would write in differently. For instance, she would not use the pronoun "he" for an androgynous people who are both male and female.

But I still love the book despite its flaws and recommend it highly. The journey of the main characters and the journey of the book over time are both revelatory.

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Review: Life on Mars: Poems

Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this collection more

I wanted to like this collection more than I did. As is my practice, I read each poem at least twice. Some are good, but many do not stir me emotionally or awaken me with original or at least striking language. The poet likes simile, which many current poets seem to avoid along with any metaphor. Some of the similes ring with significance, but many fall flat.

A competent collection, worth reading, but it may not reward rereading.

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Review: Black Book of Poems

Black Book of Poems by Vincent K. Hunanyan
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Earnest but outdated

The author of Black Book of Poems tells us he want to write accessible and not pretentious poetry, a valid goal. However, as is the case with many earnest poets, he falls into the trap of writing with a poetic diction from the Victorian Era. The emotional experience seems honest, but the poetry fails to convey cognitive or affective depth.

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Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2019 Homebound Publications Poetry Prize. My collection, Geographies of the Dead was an Honorable Mention.

Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2019 Homebound Publications Poetry Prize. My collection, Geographies of the Dead was an Honorable Mention.